Monday, August 10, 2009

Evolutionary Thought Penetrates Indiana University

This fall Indiana University will commence its first-ever themed semester, focusing on evolution. A wide range of courses will be offered to integrate the concepts of evolution, diversity and change, and guest speakers, films, performances, exhibits and discussions will help fill in the picture. It is an example of the extent to which evolutionary thinking has penetrated academia.

The themester is also another example of the hypocrisy inherent in evolutionary thought. For while this evo-fest will promote the usual false histories (Inherit the Wind will, as usual, be staged) and bad science (evolution will be presented as fact), the evolutionists will simultaneously cast the event as a balanced view of evolution. As professor Jean Robinson put it:

We don't want to shy away from controversy. We embrace the idea that universities are communities where we need to explore ideas and consider lots of different sides and question things in a safe place.

But in this context the "controversy" is understood from the perspective of the (discredited) warfare thesis. That is, the "controversy" is cast as a conflict between the supposed scientific discovery of evolution and the tension it creates with those "people of faith."

It will be a four month long orgy of whig history, free of any accurate telling of the real history of evolutionary thought, and of course free of those inconvenient scientific evidences. There will be no mention of the religious foundation of evolution. And there will be no mention of the massive scientific failure of evolution.

There will be no legitimate exploration of ideas or meaningful consideration of "different sides" as Robinson imagines. Instead, the themester will be a grand testament to evolutionary thought.